Chapter 475: Everyone, Hear Me Out

"Put it back?" The Lord of Primal Desolation frowned. "Are you joking?"

He kept a death grip on the Mechanical Heart, constantly suppressing it with his boundless power. The heart beat violently, struggling to tear itself free, but it could not escape the Lord of Primal Desolation's grasp.

"This Saint Lord is not joking!" the Lord of Dawn snapped, his expression turning exceedingly grim. Vines continued to sprout from the stump of his severed right arm, coiling tightly around the Flesh Lotus Pedestal.

At the very center of the Flesh Lotus Pedestal—the exact spot where the Mechanical Maitreya had originally sat—a bottomless, gory cavity had opened up. Blood bubbled and gurgled, continually surging from the hole like a geyser.

Corroded by the blood, the vines withered at a visible rate. The decay spread extremely fast, creeping up the length of the vines straight toward the Lord of Dawn's body.

Suppressing the Flesh Lotus Pedestal, the Lord of Dawn shouted urgently, "The Divine Corpse of the Merciful Holy Mother of Myriad Blossoms is on the verge of losing control! Once her divine power erupts, the entire Divine Ruins will be destroyed, and we will die!"

The Lord of Primal Desolation's expression shifted slightly. "How did this happen?"

"Because the two Divine Corpses fused together! Their powers intertwined and entangled, forming a fragile balance. By taking away the Fallen Sin Maitreya, you broke that balance! Without the Fallen Sin Maitreya's suppression, the Holy Mother will completely lose control!

"I shouldn't need to explain just how catastrophic an out-of-control Divine Corpse is, right?"

"Why didn't you say that sooner!?"

The Lord of Primal Desolation was both shocked and furious, but the Lord of Dawn was even angrier. "This is the first time this Saint Lord has encountered the fusion of two Divine Corpses! How could I have known in advance!?"

"Then why is my Fallen Sin Maitreya perfectly fine?"

"My guess is that the Holy Mother is unique. She cannot exist independently and must act as a parasite. Previously, she used the Fallen Sin Maitreya as a host. Now that she lacks one, she is starting to spiral out of control!"

The Lord of Dawn grew increasingly frantic. "This isn't the time for explanations! Humanity's understanding of Gods is extremely limited to begin with. If you want to figure out why the Divine Corpse is losing control, you need to survive this first! Hurry! Put the Fallen Sin Maitreya back!"

The Lord of Primal Desolation's expression flickered darkly. He stared at the Mechanical Heart in his hand, his eyes brimming with greed. "No!"

He rejected the demand with absolute resolve.

"What did you just say!?" the Lord of Dawn roared in absolute fury.

"This Saint Lord said no! I risked half my life to obtain this Divine Puzzle, and now you want me to put it back? So what if it loses control? I've already secured my prize, so this Saint Lord is leaving!"

A ruthless glint flashed through the Lord of Primal Desolation's eyes. It was obvious that he intended to abandon the Lord of Dawn to suppress the Flesh Lotus Pedestal alone while he made his own escape.

"Don't you dare!" His eyes splitting with rage, the Lord of Dawn fixed a death glare on the Lord of Primal Desolation. "Take even half a step away, and I will instantly withdraw my power from the lotus pedestal! I'll let it completely erupt!"

"You—!" The Lord of Primal Desolation gritted his teeth, freezing in place.

The two men glared at each other. Their fragile ship of friendship had capsized in the blink of an eye.

Seeing both sides fall into a stalemate, Su Mu—who had been casually enjoying the show from the sidelines—curled his lips into a smile. The Saint Lords of Heaven were no different from the mortals of Hell. How amusing.

While Su Mu casually watched the drama unfold, the rest of the group was incredibly tense. If this situation wasn't handled perfectly, every single one of them would die.

With their respective Saint Lords locked in a standoff, the subordinates naturally did not dare idle around. They quickly rallied behind their leaders. The comrades who had just been fighting side by side were instantly divided into two opposing factions.

Glancing between the two factions, Su Mu naturally chose to stand with the Lord of Dawn. After all, he was nominally a member of the Lord of Dawn's camp.

"Put it back! We don't have time to stall!" the Lord of Dawn urged frantically. The Flesh Lotus Pedestal was growing increasingly volatile, and he was on the verge of losing his grip on it.

"Impossible!" the Lord of Primal Desolation refused to yield. "If I put it back, it will revert to its original state! How are we supposed to obtain the Divine Corpse then?"

He refused to surrender the Divine Corpse now that it was in his hands. He was even silently calculating whether his formidable physical body could withstand the devastating power the Flesh Lotus Pedestal would unleash if it truly lost control.

"Just put it back first, and we can figure out another method!" the Lord of Dawn argued. "The fused Divine Corpses cannot be refined separately, but perhaps we can find a way to tackle them as a whole!"

"Hmph! That's nothing but a guess. It might be completely useless even if I do put it back. I absolutely refuse to surrender the Divine Corpse I've already obtained!"

The Lord of Dawn was beside himself with rage. "We can take our time figuring out the Divine Corpse later, but if we lose our lives, we'll have nothing at all!"

"Heh." The Lord of Primal Desolation sneered. "This Saint Lord possesses a formidable, indestructible physique. Even if the Divine Corpse loses control, it won't necessarily be enough to kill me!"

He was supremely confident in his own physical strength. The Lord of Dawn, however, lacked that same luxury. If the Divine Corpse slipped out of control, the resulting blast might not kill the Lord of Primal Desolation, but it would undoubtedly spell his own doom.

Seeing the two men deadlock once more, an elderly figure slowly stepped out from the crowd, walking right into the center of the standoff.

"Everyone, please hear me out." Su Mu's sudden interruption naturally drew the gazes of both factions.

"Perhaps there is another way to stop the Divine Corpse from losing control."

"Another way? Coming from a mere Saint Grade like you?" the Lord of Primal Desolation scoffed.

But a glimmer of hope sparked in the Lord of Dawn's eyes. "Captain Zhou, do you truly have a solution?" he asked urgently.

He placed a fair bit of value on this veteran God Hunter. Perhaps the man really did have some unique insight into the situation.

Bearing the weight of both Saint Lords' gazes, Su Mu smiled faintly. "Since the Merciful Holy Mother of Myriad Blossoms is losing control because she lost her host, why don't we simply find her a new one?"

A single remark wakes up the dreamer. The Lord of Dawn paused blankly. "You mean... we use something else to substitute for the Fallen Sin Maitreya?"

"Exactly."

"Haha..." The Lord of Primal Desolation sneered. "And here I thought you actually had a clever plan. Turns out it's just a garbage idea. Do you think just anything can serve as the Holy Mother's host? Short of another Divine Corpse, absolutely nothing can withstand her power."

Su Mu was just about to reply when the Lord of Dawn exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "You're right! We can use something else to take the Fallen Sin Maitreya's place! Aside from a Divine Corpse, no other host will be able to handle the Holy Mother's power—but as long as it lasts just long enough to stabilize her, this Saint Lord will be able to suppress her."

"That's easy for you to say," the Lord of Primal Desolation scoffed. "And where exactly do you plan on finding this host?"

The Lord of Dawn's expression flickered uncertainly. "The Holy Mother can only parasitize creatures of flesh and blood, so..."

He slowly turned his head, casting a chilling gaze over his own subordinates.

That icy glare made everyone's faces instantly drain of color. They weren't fools; they knew perfectly well that the Lord of Dawn intended to sacrifice their lives to fill the gap!

No one wanted to be the unlucky soul chosen as the host.

However, the Lord of Dawn didn't give them a single second to react. A flower-covered green vine whipped through the air, violently ensnaring a Gold King.